On Today’s Show

➢ The man who went viral over Christmas for smashing a belligerent racist in the face with a can of Twisted Tea now has a nickname — MrTea KO — and a huge online presence.

At first, Barry Allen turned the other cheek when the customer of a Circle K shop in Elyria, Ohio was hurling derogatory terms at staff members. But then the unidentified man started calling Allen the n-word. And the final straw came when Allen dropped the can of Twisted Tea, and the man tried to kick it. Allen picked up the can and walloped it into the man’s face. When the man squared off, Allen threw him to the ground and punched him repeatedly. The woman who filmed the encounter posted it right away, and Allen says when he phoned his wife to tell her what happened, she was already watching it online. His wife is now capitalizing on his newfound celebrity — by creating a Twitter page dedicated to “MrTea KO”   LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y9uv7ogf

➢ This is not what one expects to find in a field the day after Christmas. Russell Moore and his sister Tracy Harper went on a walk on Saturday (December 26th) in Northampton, England, and stumbled upon an empty coffin that was missing its lid. He explains the area was flooded the day before, and there were other items washed up in the field as well, including a go-kart and a freezer. The coffin has a plaque noting it’s from the Ministry of Health for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. So far there’s no word on where the coffin came from as the flood was not known to have affected any cemeteries.

➢ A squirrel is waging a bloody assault a Queens neighborhood, leaving some wounded people scared to go outside. “Next thing I know it’s an MMA cage match and I’m losing,” resident Micheline Frederick said of her recent experience being attacked by the rodent. “It just basically runs up my leg and I’m like, ‘OK squirrel, hello what are you doing?'” The bushy-tailed beast “either bit me or scratched me on my neck,” Frederick said of the invasion that left her hands bloody and bruised.

➢A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino with many of its internal organs still intact has been recovered from permafrost in Russia’s extreme north. It’s among the best-preserved specimens of the Ice Age animal found to date. The carcass has most of its soft tissues still intact, including part of the intestines, thick hair, and a lump of fat. Its horn was found next to it. Scientists dated the carcass as anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 years old.

➢ Adobe Flash Player is no more. The browser plug-in that brought animations and interactivity to the early web, officially reached the end of its life with the ringing in of the New Year. Released in 1996, Flash was once one of the most popular ways for people to stream videos and play games online. But it was plagued with security problems and failed to transition to the smartphone era. Adobe will no longer offer security updates for Flash and has urged people to uninstall it. It will also stop videos and animations running in its Flash Player beginning Jan. 12.

TODAY IS……………….

• “Bird Day”, an annual observance with half a million adherents who celebrate through birdwatching, studying birds, and bird adoption. Part of the idea is to educate wannabe bird owners about the special issues involved with taking care of our fine feathered friends.

• “National Keto Day”, an observance of the popular high-fat, low carb ketogenic (keto) diet that “has been shown to offer a number of health benefits, including weight loss, blood sugar maintenance, and cognitive support”, according to the Vitamin Shoppe, which originated the observance

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

2004  Toby Keith was at #1 on the US Country chart with Shock’n Y’all, his eighth studio album. “I Love This Bar”, “American Soldier” and “Whiskey Girl” were the three tracks from the album to be released as singles, and all reached #1 on the Hot Country Songs charts. “I Love This Bar” inspired a chain of restaurants that Keith launched under the name I Love This Bar And Grill.

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GOOGLE TOP SEARCHES WORLDWIDE IN 2020:
1. Coronavirus
2. Election results
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Zoom
5. IPL (Indian Premier League)

TOP ‘PEOPLE’ SEARCHES:
1. Joe Biden
2. Kim Jong Un
3. Boris Johnson
4. Kamala Harris
5. Tom Hanks

TOP TV SHOW SEARCHES:
1. Tiger King
2. Big Brother Brasil
3. Money Heist
4. Cobra Kai
5. The Umbrella Academy

FOUR RANDOM FACTS

1. Bluetooth is named after a 10th century Scandinavian king, Harald Bluetooth.  He united Danish tribes into one kingdom.  When Bluetooth technology was invented, they picked the name because it unified the way machines communicated.

2. There have been proposals made to the Las Vegas City Council for casinos with themes including the Titanic, the moon, the WWE, Playboy, London, San Francisco, and the Caribbean.  For various reasons, none of them ever happened.

3. Most of the static you hear on a radio is caused by the radiation field around Jupiter.  So don’t touch that dial, because we’re intergalactic, baby.

4. The Southern Hemisphere typically has milder winters than the Northern Hemisphere because it has less land and a more maritime climate.

GOOD NEWS

A Virgina man was finally reunited with his 1969 Camaro—17 years after it was stolen.

Tommy Cook said that his beloved vintage car was stolen from his auto repair lot in Woodbridge, VA in 2003. At the time, the vehicle was painted Hugger Orange and did not have an engine.

Cook reported the Camaro stolen and continued to renew its missing status in the years that followed. He says that he never gave up hope that they would be reunited one day. Finally, 17 years later, a friend of Cook’s asked him to come to an auto shop to look at a 1968 Camaro he was considering purchasing. When he arrived, it was a 1969 Camaro in the corner of the garage that caught Cook’s eye.

Despite the fact that it was hoodless, painted green, had an engine installed, and bore a fraudulent VIN on the dashboard, Cook had a feeling about it and dug deeper. He quickly learned that the car had, in fact, originally been painted Hugger Orange. He checked the VIN in a different location on the vehicle (under the hood) and it matched his missing car.

The 1969 Camaro had apparently changed hands four times since being stolen in 2003, during which time many expensive improvements had been made, including the installation of an engine.

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BIRTHDAYS

[90] Robert Duvall, actor

[75] Diane Keaton, actress

[46] Bradley Cooper, actor

[43] January Jones, actress (“Mad Men” 2007-15, “The Last Man on Earth 2015-18)

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Fox Hunt Crashes Through Funeral

More than two dozen hounds hot on the trail of a fox chased it right into a funeral gathering in the UK. A report notes that the hunting group in question has apologized “unreservedly” and promised to put measures into place to prevent it from happening again. The incident has further raised tensions between hunting groups and wildlife advocates who want such hunts shut down. Though a 2004 law in the UK technically outlawed fox hunts, the measure apparently has lots of loopholes. Hunters, for example, can purportedly have their hounds follow an artificial fox scent in what’s known as “trail hunting,” but it’s widely seen as a way to engage in actual hunting. As for the disruption of the funeral, a similar thing happened last year in a different part of the UK.

HEARTBROKEN SWAN HOLDS UP TRAFFIC FOR NEARLY AN HOUR IN GERMAN TOWN

Who says animals can’t be heartbroken? Trains in Germany were reportedly delayed last Tuesday after a swan refused to move from the tracks. Reports say the swan was mourning the death of its mate, as the animals had reportedly been together when one of the birds accidentally flew into a power line above the tracks. The surviving mate sat below the spot of the accident, seemingly in mourning. Twenty-three trains were delayed while the swan mourned, and attempts to lure the bird away were unsuccessful. Eventually, firefighters used special equipment to remove the body of the dead bird and the live bird—the living bird was released to a nearby river.

MAINE KAYAKER RESCUES ESCAPED GOAT THAT SWAM INTO THE OCEAN:

Sometimes animals need our help—including this escaped goat. A Maine kayaker ventured into the ocean after a four-year-old goat escaped from its owner in the parking lot of a Veterinary Hospital on Tuesday (December 29th). The animal ran through a retirement community before making its way to the beach. Police officers chased the animal on the beach, and Jerri Holmes, a year-round kayaker, spotted the commotion from her home. She rushed out in her kayak after she saw the goat swim out into the ocean. She was eventually able to block the animal’s path in the water, and got it to swim back to shore where its owner lured it back using bananas. Officials from the animal hospital say the goat was warmed with blankets, is doing well.

Bizarre moment man catches 6lb salmon with his bare hands in flooded car park

A skilled UK angler’s most recent catch came as a surprise when he caught a six-pound salmon with his bare hands in a flooded car park. Chris Bird, went to where a river had flooded and burst its banks and spotted the giant fish. In the video, he picks it up where it is flailing helplessly, scooping it into his arms. He told says “I saw something in my headlights, and I was pretty surprised, to say the least, to see a salmon in the east car park. “When I approached it, the fish tried to swim back but couldn’t get through the fence which it had somehow squeezed through.” After lifting the fish out of the water, Chris released it back into the river where he hopes it will make its way to its breeding grounds upstream.

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TUESDAY JANUARY 5^TH  

1. Devon Levi made 27 saves to pick up his second consecutive shutout and Dylan Cozens picked up a goal and two assists to add to his team lead in points as Team Canada blanked Team Russia 5-0 in their semifinal on Monday to advance to the final at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. They’ll play the U.S. who edged Finland 4 – 3.

Bronze                 –              Russia vs Finland 5:30

Gold                      –              USA vs Canada 8:30

2. Alex Trebek’s final episodes of “Jeopardy!” are airing this week.  Alex’s messageon last night’s episode might bring a tear to your eye.

3. After living through almost a year of the pandemic, now you can play the board game. During Germany’s first lockdown earlier this year, four sisters decided to make a board game, which they named Corona. Already, the sisters have sold 2,000 copies of the game. The point of the game is to buy all the groceries on a shopping list for an older neighbor who is staying home to avoid the coronavirus. Up to four players compete to deliver all their items first, overcoming obstacles including being exposed to the virus — which leads to quarantining — or not finding the necessary items at the grocery store because hoarders took them already.

4. It’s time to take a trip through the imaginative comedy mind of Mitch Hedberg

Tom Brady and Russell Wilson Changed the Game Plan

TOM BRADY and RUSSELL WILSON didn’t just win games for their teams on Sunday, they also made sure their receivers reached regular season benchmarks that got them salary bonuses.

Brady threw three easy shovel passes to ANTONIO BROWN in the final two minutes of the Bucs’ blowout win over the Falcons so that Brown could cash in on a $250,000 bonus.

He was due for the bonus if he amassed 45 receptions.  He had 42 before the shovel passes . . . and he finished the season with exactly 45.

In the Seahawks / 49ers game, the Seahawks had the lead and the ball with less than 30 seconds left, so all they had to do was take a knee to lock up a victory.

But instead, Russell Wilson changed the play to toss a pass to receiver DAVID MOORE, who gained five yards before running out of bounds.

After the game, Wilson said that Moore would get $100K if he ended the season with 35 passes . . . and that last catch was enough to hit the mark.  (Here’s video.)

(And here’s video of Saints receiver EMMANUEL SANDERS openly celebrating, after securing his 60th catch of the season in the third quarter on Sunday.  That mark landed him a $500,000 bonus.)

Walmart Has Leaked Morgan Wallen’s New Album, and He’s Not Happy

MORGAN WALLEN is releasing “Dangerous: The Double Album” on Friday, but some Walmarts have already started selling it.

WhiskeyRiff.com found posts from fans in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and West Virginia who already bought copies.  One TikTok user even shared audio of the title track.  Word got back to Morgan and he’s obviously not happy.

In a post on Instagram he told his fans he’s cool with them sharing the music.  His anger is directed at Walmart.

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PARKER McCOLLUM CHARTS FIRST NUMBER ONE HIT

Congratulations to Parker McCollum, who earned a U.S. number one with “Pretty Heart.”

Parker says that the success he’s experiencing these days is what he envisioned all along. [“It’s like exactly how I dreamed it up and told my older brother that I was gonna do this when I was 17 years old is exactly how it has gone, up until the global pandemic, everything was pretty spot on. The end-all goal really was to come to Nashville and sign a major record deal and try to go play country music at the highest level, so to say I’m lucky and blessed is an understatement.”] SOUNDCUE (:23 OC: . . . is an understatement.)

“Pretty Heart” was just certified Gold by the RIAA and has averaged over 5 Million streams weekly.

BLAKE SHELTON TAKES SOME HEAT OVER NEW SONG

Blake Shelton is facing backlash after his performance of a new song called “Minimum Wage” during NBC’s New Year’s Eve special. The song was intended as a love song for his fiancee Gwen Stefani, however lyrics like “Girl, lookin’ at you lookin’ at me that way / Can make a man feel rich on minimum wage,” has upset people because it is sung by a multi-millionaire to a multi-millionaire while others are struggling to even make ends meet these days.

Social media comments included, “I love his music but the timing for Minimum Wage isn’t great. With so many people out of work and struggling the song feels a little tone deaf . .

While Blake hasn’t commented on the controversy, Brooks & Dunn‘s Ronnie Dunn jumped to his defense on social media yesterday (Monday, Jan. 4th) writing in part, “Now, they want to attack country singers for being successful. I slept on a mattress on the floor in a musician friend’s spare bedroom and played BEER JOINTS / DIVE BARS for years before I ever made a $100. Most country singers pay dues and go through things to become successful that no sane human being would.”

There is no word yet on whether “Minimum Wage” will be Blake’s next radio single.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer